Introduction

I have been thinking about writing an expanded story about Maynard Leroy Jones’ service in World War II for a long time. Over the years I have been able to gather a lot of information about Maynard and the Kassel mission, but not gathered in any organized manner.

As typical of his generation, Maynard did not talk openly about his wartime experiences with his family. He did answer questions about his experiences when asked, but he did not dwell on them. Although Maynard did write about his time in service, it was composed thirty-five years after he became a prisoner of war and was written almost in outline form. This from a man who wrote over 300 letters to his parents during his time in service from 1943 to 1945.

Kendra and I visited the Kassel Mission Memorial in Friedlos, Germany, in 2002 and Tibenham Field in England in 2004. Maynard’s mother, Zita Helen Jones, showed little interest in our trips and photographs, perhaps because Maynard had been dead for over 20 years or perhaps because she had just lost interest in events that happened almost 60 years before. Maynard’s wife, B. Lou Jones, also never showed much interest in his wartime exploits, though she did not meet Maynard until after the war was over.

It was not until the mid-1980s that interest in the Kassel mission grew to the extent that a historical society was formed. I was contacted at that time since I was Maynard’s son-in-law and had an interest in genealogy. Being in contact with that organization has allowed access to additional information, given me contact with Carroll Snidow and other crew members’ families, and further peaked my desire to write this story.

I apologize for any inaccuracies that are bound to occur in writing about historical events. I also apologize for leaving out persons or events that should have been included but have been lost in the mists of time or inadvertently left out by me.